Acceleration-controlling device.



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APPLICATION FILED MAY 16, 1908.

WITNESSES Kim e S WZTNEEEZ'S' qpswgf m V. A. WOLGOTT. AGOELERATION CONTROLLING DEVICE. 7

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16. 190B.

, I Patented July 13, 1909.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

.DSZ'YE'NTL R YAHANUE' A. WULGU T52".

WAW

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

YARANUi A. WOLCOTT, OF SCHENECTADY. NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRLC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

ACCELERATION -CON TROLLING DEVICE Specification of Letters Patent.-

. Patented July 13, 1909.

Application area M 16, 1908. Serial nmisaazz.

trolling Devices, of which the following is a specification.

Under certain conditions it is desirable that a prime mover acceleraterapidly on decrease in load. Since decrease of load will. of course, when energy is supplied at the normal rate, cause a certain positive acceleration of tli'ilpriinc mover, it is evident that the latter wi accelerate more ra idly if the energy furnished it during acceleration is supplied at a rate above normal.

l\ l v invention has-for its object to provide means responsive to positive acceleration of a prime mover for increasing above normal the rate at which energy is supplied thereto during acceleration. It may, as will be obvious to those skilled in the art, be carried out in connection with a steam engine, gas ongine, eleclric motor, or any other form of prime mover and, although in this applica: tion I have shown and described it in connection with an electric motor, I do not wish to be understood as limitingit to this form of.

translating device.

It is customary to provide mining locomotives with a cable reel which winds 11 and pays out a flexible conductor attached to a Source of current and serving to supply current to the locomotive when it is gatheringf cars from the working faces of mines. Such an arrangement is shown in the patent to Shaver, No. 853.522, datcd May 14, 1907, cable reel apparatus for mining locomotives, in which the reel is shown as driven by a small motor. It has been found necessary under certain conditions that the reel motor be accelerated Very rapidly during acceleration of the locomotive toward the source of current supply, in order to positively insure the slack in the cable being reeled up and the tension thereon being mainta ned substantially constant. It is in connection with this line of apparatus that my invention is nirticularly useful, and for the purposes of illustration I have shown it embodied in a device of this kind. I do not wish to be understood,

however, as limiting my invention to use with this particular kind o'. apparatuss nce, .as will boobvious to those skilled ui'this art,

it may equall well housed in many other connections; or example, for the control of electric motors employed, in connection with devices for cooling ships at sea, for keeping taut the cable extending from one vessel to another.

The mining locomotive of the kind above described, chosen for the purposes of ill:stration, is rovided with the form of cable reel made t e subject of a co-pcndingapplication in the nameof Carl W. Larson, Serial No. 414,459, filed February 6, 1908. The particular arrangement which I have illustrated comprises means including an inertia operated device, rotated by the reel motor,

which, during acceleration of the reel motor owing to acceleration of the locomotive toward the source of current supply, will iiicrease above normal the volta e applied to the reel motor, by, for examp e, short-.cir-

cuiting a resistance normally interposed in the motor circuit.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in

Figure 1 is a side elevation of an electric mining locomotive having a cable reel applied thereto, in connection with which my invention is shown in the other figures; Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional elevation through the reel, most of the driving mechanism thereof being shown in elevation; Fig. 3 is a top View of the reel showing the inertia operated device hereinafter described; and Fig. 4 is a die-- grinnmatic view showing the arrangement of circuits and the parts which controlthcm.

Referring to the drawings, in which like parts are indicated throughout the several views by the same reference charactcis, in Fig. 1 the fr me of the electric locomotive is shown in Olll-llllB with the wheels 5 mounted in any suitable manner in journal boxes upon which the frame of the locomotive rests. Mounted on the top of the locomotive is the reel 6 u onwhich is wound a flexible conductor 7 w iii-h runs through a sheave 8 and has. its end secued in an suitable manner to a source of current, suci as a trolley wire 9Q The construction of the reel proper and the arrangement of the driving mechanism may be of any suitable kind and is shown the same, except loi dillerences he lter mentioned, as that set forth in the liaison application above referred to. The reel proper mhtv, while: o

: surface oi this grmay la-v built up from a wooden disk 12 to which ansecured a. plurality of bout metal rib I which may be connected at then-outer Y ble, the rod 40 in its movement will lag be (-u-is lay a rim: ll in order to give them stadisk nzav unis-m o'l the-fr e supported by a l rame .U, 15f tin.- icrirshown, which frame is mounted upon the. ,i'HC'liHEilVn and serves not only for the support of the reel, but also as the field frame i e aii motor which drives the reel. The field coils of this motor are l' r-a'u '21, and in ecops riitive relation to these retains an arnui oresuitablyjournsled in the inane :30. On the lower extended end of the armature shaft is a gear 22 which on es with a, gear 23 keyed to a countershiv jrmrna'ul in a ylindrical extension :24 of the h 2G. Keyed to the upper end of this roa aft is a pinion 25 which with z:. 6 arranged fol-rotation on thelop oi H2 frame 2U. The disk 12oF the cei r-j upon the upper extended .r .26 and the frictional engagementl ctwe-cn. i hose two parts drives the cable reel :1 disk 1' cl." filo-oils or other suitablc mazcrial being liner-posed to insure proper wen ring of the parts 'lhc ramstriurtion so lata sl antmlr; (in) same as that cribed is sublustratcd in the Larson 5 lication, above referred to, but, if desired, reel may have a positive. drivingconnection with the moi'or equivalent to that sh n. :1 .in the parent to Shaver, No. 853,322, above montiom-d.

Secured to the bottom of the. disk 12 are trw rings and l'l of conducting material wiih \vbii: e, respectively, brushes 3'2 and 33 mounted in any suit able manner in an extension 3% of the frame 20. A terminal 35 c nnects with the brush 52, while a terminal 30 connects with the brush 33. the llexibic conductor 7 secured to a terminal b7 electrically connected with the r ng 30, as clearly shown in Fig. 2. Mounte'd upon the top of the reel is an inertia operated device best shown in Figs. Zand 3 as comprising a bar 40 pivoted freely at 41 at the axis of the reel, which bar hasat each end a heavy enlarged head 42. This bar 40 is connected to and caused to rotate with the reel by a. spring 43 secured to the bar at a. suitable point and connectcd'to a'fixcd pin 44 on the top of the reel. The bar 40 carries at 45 a. contact which when the bar is rotated on its ivot against the tension of the sp'rin 43 oridges two fixed contacts 46 and 47. e contact 46 is electrically connected to the ,ring 31, and the contact 47 is electrically The end of ilu, from the top of the rabs 15 connected at their 1 The. driving meehi hind the reel sui'liciently to elongate thespring -l3 and bring the contact member 45 into engagement with the fixed contacts 46 and 4 7. A stop 48 projecting upwardly from the to-pcf the reel may be provided to prevent the bar 40 from moving in an opposite direction with reference to the reel when the reel is rotated to unwind the cable.

The reel motor, which is preferably series wound. is connected on one side to the frame of the loeomoth'e, in other words to ground. and on the other side througha. resistance it to the terminal 35 of the brush 32. The ter iniual 36 leading to the brush 33 is connected to a point between the resistance and the reel. motor. Tlimc connections are best shown diagrammatically in Fig. 4 and, as will be understood from that figure, result in connccting'thc reel motor to the supply cable 7 in series with the resistance it under normal conditions, this resistance being shortrireuited when the contact 45 controlled by the inertia operated device bridges the fixed contacts 46 and 47. The inertia o )erated device might of course equally well c (xiwhere arranged and driven more directlv from the reel motor 01', in fact if desired, mightbe driven from an axle of the locomo. tive.

The. operation of the embodiment of my invention, above described, will be understood from F ig. 4. W hile the locomotive is at rest or operating at a constant speed or moving away from the source of current, the reel motor will be connected to the source through the resistance R and will exert a certain torque u )on the reel tending to wind up the cable. \lhcn, however, the locomotive is accelerated toward the point at which the cable 7 is secured, thereby allowing the rcl to accelerate and wind u the cable, the inertia. operated device will ring the contact 45 into engaghment with the contacts 46 and 47 and will temporarily connect the rings 30 and 31 thereby short-circuiting the resistance R, the cited: of which will be to apply a higher voltage to the motor thereby increasing the torque thereof and cau'si the motor to ac-. celcrate more rapidly 1; an it otherwise would. As soon as-thc locomotive comes to a constant speed, or is dccelerated, the incrtia operating devicc opens the contacts controlled by it and rcinscrts the resistance in the motor circuit, thereby reducing the tor no of the motor to its normal value.

Vt hile I have shown but one form in which my invention may be embodied, I do not insh to be understood as limiting it thereto, cxce t as called for by the following claims.

First I claimas new and desire to secure by Letters Pateht of the United States, is,-

,1. Incombination, a vehicle, a cable reel carried thereby, a source of current, a reel motor connected thereto supported on said motor connected thereto supported on said vehicle and arranged to rotate said reel, and means including an inertia operated device for increasing above normal the voltage ap plied to said reel motor durin; acceleration of said vehicle in one direction.

3. In combination, a vehicle, a cable reel carried thereby, a source of current. a reel, motor connected thereto supported on said vehicle and arranged to rotate said reel, and means including an inertia operated device carried and operated by said reel for increasingabove normal the voltageapplied to said reel motor during acceleration of said vehicle in one direction.

4. In combination, a vehicle, a cable reel carried thereby, a source of current, a reel motor connected thereto supported on said vehicle and arranged to rotate said reel, and means for-automatically increasin the volta e applied to said reel motor uring ac- 'ce eration thereof.

5. In combination, a vehicle, a cable reel carried thereby, a source of current, a reel motor connected thereto supported on said vehicle and arranged to rotate said reel, and means including an inertia operated device for increasing above normal the voltage applied to said reel motor during acceleration thereof.

6. In combination, a vehicle, a cable reel carried thereby, a source of current, a reel motor connected thereto supported on said vehicle and arranged to rotate said reel, a re- 40 sistance normally in series with said motor, and means for automatically short-circuiting said resistance during acceleration of said vehicle in one direction.

7. In combination, a vehicle, a cable reel carried thereby, a source of current, a reel motor connected thereto supported on said vehicle and arranged to drive said reel, a resistance normally in series with said motor, and means including an inertia operated device mounted upon said reel-arranged to short-circuit said resistance during acceleration of said vehicle in one direction..

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 15th day of May, 1908.

VARANUS A. WOLCQTT.

Witnesses:

BENJAMIN B. HULL, HELEN Oarom). 

